This invention relates to a device for attachment to fishing tackle, specifically to a fishing rod or pole, and in the majority of cases to lighter weight tackle, to indicate there is fish hooked on the line extending from the pole.
Various devices have been disclosed using audible and/or visible indicators for this purpose. Very few such devices have been commercially successful, and it is believed that a significant reason for lack of success has been excessive complexity and the need to make changes and/or additions to the fishing tackle, and an inability to set the indicator with enough precision that it will function when there is a strike (fish on the hook) but not just a nibble or slight disturbance.
In general, prior art devices are characterized by some sort of level responsive switch, typically a mercury switch, mounted to a fishing pole, and connected in series with a power source and an indicator, e.g. a buzzer or light or both. When fishing on bottom, from land, boat, dock, etc. a fisherman may use several poles, cast each some distance apart, and support the poles in available holders or leaned against a leaning aid (such as a forked tree limb etc.) at an approximate 45 degree angle. This allows the fisherman to work several lines at essentially one time.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,882,629 shows such a general arrangement, with small battery operated light attached through a mercury switch to a penlight battery and mounted in a cylindrical housing which is fixed by a bracket to the tip of a fishing pole. The bracket includes a means for adjusting the angle of the housing and thus the angle at which the mercury switch will close when the pole bends. The pole is supported in a typical holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,321 discloses a similar arramgement with a direct mounting of the cylindrical housing along a pole, and an adjustment which contemplates rotating the housing to change the response angle of the mercury switch. The pole is supported in a forked arm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,399,630 shows a mercury switch controlled light at a pole tip, using a remote electrical source such as a trolling motor battery, or a battery pack in the handle of the pole.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,910,797 discloses a mounting tripod for a pole, including a lamp on a counterweighted arm, which is in turn attached to and supports the pole.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,820,268 to Newton discloses a esparate light and buzzer spaced apart on a rod, and activated by two metal brackets mounted near the rod tip and acting as electrical contacts. Sensitivity of the device is set by a thumbscrew mounted between these brackets.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,696,546 to Ambrose discloses a housing located near the rod handle and having a telescopic contact (resembling a portable radio antenna) extending from the housing upward on the rod. This contact is exposed next to a clamp which is connected in and electrical series circuit. The device actuates when the rod bends and pulls the clamp against the telescopic contact.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,302,337 shows a device having a flashlight configuration, mounted on a rod by metal clamps and machine screws. There is a light at the lower end of the device, and a push-type switch protruding from the upper end of the device. A helical spring is positioned to press against this switch when the rod is bent. Sensitivity is adjusted by altering the position of the mounting brackets.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,505,063 discloses a device using liquid reactants which when combined form a chemiluminescent liquid. The device is supported near the tip of a pole, and the reactants combine when the pole is moved beyond a certain limit.
All of the aforementioned devices are difficult to set, difficult to attach to the pole, and/or have limted usage. Devices mounted near the tip of a pole exhibit high sensitivity, and tend to give spurious signals; in many instances the lighted indicator have small lamps or bulbs, with low power, aimed away from the expected position of the monitoring fisherman. The chemiluminescent device is capable of only a single use.
These devices, as a whole, appear to have various mechanical eccentricities which make them unpractical, if not very difficult, to use repeatedly, to be essentially maintenance free, to be waterproof, to adapt to use with a variety of fishing tackle, and to be set/adjusted to provide the indication (or alarm) at an appropriate time when there is a strike on the particular pole to which the device is connected.